By the Sea

While I was having a clear-out of my loft last year, I came across an old exercise book containing some poems I had written as a teenager.

Now, most teenage poetry is truly dreadful - badly written and full of embarrassing, self-indulgent angst. Mine was no exception. But there was one little poem I had written when I was young that I quite liked. It is about childhood, the importance of imagination and the way the sea can so beautifully reflect the sky - something I still love to observe today. Here it is (hope it isn't too embarrassing):

By the Sea

A child is playing in the blue sky-sea,
with cloud-waves falling about his knees.
Building castles in the air with his bucket and spade,
and waiting for the wind-tides to wash them away.

The picture is much Photoshopped from a photo I took a few years ago. I have no idea who the child in the picture is, playing by the wreck of a boat on a beach.